Hardwood Paroxysm: Jose Calderon, Indispensable In Toronto

The Toronto Raptors miss Kyle Lowry. They miss his scoring punch and his perimeter defense. They miss the way he bulls his way to the basket and puts his opponents in the penalty. They miss him on the break and on the boards. They lost by 20 when he went down with a right ankle sprain about two weeks ago and have lost four of six since. But while Lowry might be the embodiment of Dwane Casey-style basketball at the point guard spot, Toronto’s head coach is anything but averse to starting Jose Calderon in his absence. With the way Casey talks about Calderon, praising him not only as a player but as a professional, as a man, it’s abundantly clear how he values his contributions in Toronto.

As an organization, you must understand when is the right time to trade.

Trading when you feel like trading (usually after ineffective spurts) is actually the bad idea. Teams know when players are struggling, and they know when teams WANT to trade the players. This means that what gets thrown back is immensely less talented.

Trading when you want to KEEP the player is the right move. This usually means the rest of the league would like the player as well, they are on a strong stretch (Jose has been the 2nd best PG in the GAME since getting the start) and pressure you into the trade with an offer you can't refuse.

This is the PERFECT time to trade him. Once Lowry is back at full health, I expect Calderon to be traded.

Its sad in a loyalty sense, If I had it my way, We would retire Calderons Jersey (longest serving raptor, and most loyal IMO).

Unfortunately loyalty does not necessarily win anything. We need to capitalize on our pieces and move on in our specific direction, defense and toughness.

Calderon would also benefit. When he was coming off the bench he was averaging 7pts and 3 assists. Clearly his ability to hit double digit assists in the past 5 games, his triple double, his 18 assist performance, all indicate he isnt done starting in this league.
Since we can't give him the start, we should allow him to show the rest of his capabilities on another team.

Jose is my favourite all time Raptor but he is no longer relevant to this team unfortunately , I would love for him to go to a powerhouse team, if we could get something decent for him from them of course.

Jose is my favourite all time Raptor but he is no longer relevant to this team unfortunately , I would love for him to go to a powerhouse team, if we could get something decent for him from them of course.

I would keep Jose, im pretty sureinf they sign him next season he'll settle for a smaller "veteran" contract. Then we would have a pretty solid pg tandem for the future, plus, he gets to retire a raptor. Also, when we need to bring up another pg of the future (say, 3-4 years from now) what better way than to learn to have 2 very good point guards teaching you. But as we all know, this'll prolly never happen. Just sayin it would be nice.

I would keep Jose, im pretty sureinf they sign him next season he'll settle for a smaller "veteran" contract. Then we would have a pretty solid pg tandem for the future, plus, he gets to retire a raptor. Also, when we need to bring up another pg of the future (say, 3-4 years from now) what better way than to learn to have 2 very good point guards teaching you. But as we all know, this'll prolly never happen. Just sayin it would be nice.

This is pretty much the scenario I've been wishing for since we traded for Lowry.
Still holding out hope that Jose can be the first Raps lifer.

At the end of the day, Jose deserves to be the first full Raptor. My opinion, is we keep him till he retires. I think everyone talks about having Calderon + an asset get a star wing. I mean, looking realistically, I question myself. It will NOT happen. Rudy Gay for Jose + Bargnani? Do you REALLY think that'll happen? Seems like I would have to turn on the trade override in 2K13 for this to ever happen.

Jose Calderon, one of the best passers in the game. One of the best in terms of taking care of the ball. Loyal. Professional. Sign him for maybe $4-5 million for 3 years? Him backing up Lowry, not to mention if we are able to bring in a young guard, the learning shouldn't be too long.

He has really been the most under-appreciated Raptor of all-time. Always talking about how much trade value he is, how much of a pylon he is defensively. Please, shut up and enjoy the way he creates such great offense for guys around him.

I'm on board for keeping him on the team until he retires. Seriously think of how much he can bring back in a trade... I honestly believe at best, the talent returning would be a solid contributing player, but by no means a huge impact player. Not as much as Jose Calderon.

He is a great guy and is a consummate professional but lets be real: Raps have hardly treated him well the last few years (despite a massive contract) and he would be a phenomenal player as a backup on a playoff team or championship calibre team. He has talked about the desire to play in LA and the desire to play in a warmer climate as well.

For Jose to be a Raptor beyond this season, he is going to have to want to be.

Its true, we would need a back up PG if we traded him, and who better to meet the requirements but Jose?!

Im under the opinion though, that a starting-caliber SF to join our core is much more important. Jose's expiring of 10Mil, Plus his current play could allow Memphis the ability to maintain elite-caliber play w/o Rudy gay (who they are using as a 3rd option) for the rest of the season with Jose under contract, and then slip under the luxury tax line after the playoffs. I think Memphis knows that they need to avoid a salary dump to maintain legitimacy, and with their current payroll they have got to let go of someone eventually!
Ive seen expiring contracts of worse players revolve around similar deals before (When I was younger, I never understood them).

The point is, that I would rather a hole at my back up PG spot than my starting SF spot.
If Jose can't trade for someone to fill either hole, then there shouldn't be any urgency to get rid of him.
We are actually in a good position, with teams knowing we would keep Jose if we could and at this moment only what we want for him would do.

He has really been the most under-appreciated Raptor of all-time. Always talking about how much trade value he is, how much of a pylon he is defensively. Please, shut up and enjoy the way he creates such great offense for guys around him.

he has also been the most over-appreciated. jose gets overvalued when he is a back-up which he excels at and undervalued when he is a starter.

here we go like i said in a earlier thread he always plays his best at these times which usually starts a "pg controversy".. problem is this time were already in love with lowry even if he's an injury waiting to happen

No Dissrespect...With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.. You hear me BC?

Jose should be kept as the team's back up and insurance point guard until he retires. As good as he is offensively setting people up, he is not good enough to guard the new breed of point guards (these animals I tell you). Therefore, he's as good as a primary back up point guard.

If he can be resigned for the next 4 years for $4 M per season, I will be very happy.

I respect a guy who gives a sh!t about winning and Jose is clearly a winner. I would like to see him run a Laker team or some other contender, but I'm selfish and I like the Raptors, so ....

“I don’t create controversies. They’re there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.”

he has also been the most over-appreciated. jose gets overvalued when he is a back-up which he excels at and undervalued when he is a starter.

Over-appreciated and over-valued as a back-up? I think he's been under-valued and under-appreciated overall because even as DC and BC were promoting the great depth (so as most of us were), everyone was looking at Kyle Lowry, and the great pre-season and Chicago-energizer in JL3 at the point guard spot. Jose was just another, "he's back to find guys the ball."

I'm not Jose, but from reading posts, and seeing the reactions/comments on him, it really looks like he is labeled as "he's just doing his job." Which he is, but I think he does a great, great job of doing it.

The truth is most of us want Jose to stay. The truth also maybe that the Raps. brass want him to stay. Of course as a back up. The question is, does Jose want to stay? I'll be very surprised if he does. If he want's to stay, hats off to him. I doubt it though.

As much as I love Jose and would love for him to be a Raptor for life, I think he coupled with either Ross/Amir/Ed might be the best way to add more talent to the club. I agree with Matt, you have to ask does he even want to stay? If he does, I dont see why he would be opposed to us acquiring more talent, and then re-signing him at a fair deal in the off-season (4 yrs/ $16 M). If we aren't able to get a good piece in return for a trade involving Jose, then let him expire and roll the dice in the off-season.